The Budget Bureau would have no objection if the government were to change the disbursement of the 10,000 baht financial benefit under the “digital wallet” scheme from ‘digital money’ to cash, as long as the objective of the scheme is to stimulate the economy and the disbursement begins in September, Chalermphol Pensoot, the bureau’s director, said today.
He noted, however, that the government has not yet decided in what form the benefit will be.
The amount of money needed to fund the scheme was reduced from 500 to 450 billion baht by the Srettha government. This would consist of 165 billion baht from a 2024 fiscal year supplementary budget, 43 billion baht from cuts to several projects and 285 billion baht from the 2025 fiscal budget.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has hinted that digital wallet scheme will have to be reviewed, in line with changes in the economic situation.
Chalermphol said that, since the digital wallet scheme was initiated by the previous government and if the scheme is to be continued by the new administration, it must be approved by the new cabinet.
